A contingency recruiter’s fee is a percentage of the hire’s salary. A flat fee is a fixed invoice, agreed before the search starts. For a founder-led marketing agency making one important hire, that difference decides what the person running your search is paid to care about.
Most agency founders weigh both against the way they hire now: a job post, a few referrals, and interviews squeezed between client calls. That way has no invoice, but it costs your hours and leaves the pay range to guesswork. This guide explains how each model is paid, where the incentives point, and when each one makes sense.
How a contingency fee works
A contingency recruiter is paid when a candidate accepts an offer. The fee is a percentage of that person’s salary, set in the recruiter’s agreement with you.
Because it’s a percentage, you can check the arithmetic yourself. If the agreed rate is 20%, a $120,000 salary means a $24,000 fee. If the offer rises to $130,000, the fee rises by $2,000.
That creates two pulls. The fee grows with the salary, and nothing is paid until someone accepts. Neither makes a recruiter careless, but both reward a fast close at a higher number.
How a flat fee works
A flat fee is agreed before the search starts, and it doesn’t move with the salary you approve. Our standard search is $7,500. Technical or niche searches are $10,000 to $15,000, and executive searches are $15,000 to $25,000.
As of October 2026.30% deposit to begin discovery. 70% on an accepted offer. If we don’t place someone, you owe nothing more.
Since the salary doesn’t change our fee, a higher offer doesn’t earn us more. The remaining 70% is still due on an accepted offer. You approve the role, pay, shortlist, and offer. We handle the work between.
What the fee pays for
A standard search covers the whole job, from defining the role to the signed offer:
- Two weeks of discovery on the role, the team, and what the seat has to deliver
- A hiring brief we call the Right Person Profile, plus a Job Map of the work the person will own
- A Salary Benchmark: your pay range checked against the market
- A Job Deck that explains the role, pay, team, and challenges to candidates
- Sourcing and outreach across multiple channels
- Paid, bespoke Work Simulations for finalists
- A shortlist with the evidence, concerns, and our recommendation written down
- Offer negotiation support
Every deliverable is yours to keep, whatever the outcome. About three hours of structured time with SuperHired, plus your finalist interviews and decision time. We plan around an eight-week target, and the real timeline depends on the role, the market, and how quickly your team decides.
Compared with running it yourself
Running the search yourself has no invoice, which is why most founders start there. The cost shows up elsewhere: evenings spent screening, a pay range set by gut feel, and a decision made from interview memory.
A flat fee buys back the work between the decisions. You still choose. We do the searching, screening, and write-up, so each decision rests on the same evidence.
The guarantee
A 120-day replacement-search guarantee is included, subject to the conditions in your service agreement. We’ll explain those conditions before you commit.
As of October 2026.You keep every original deliverable.
When a flat fee is the wrong choice
A flat fee isn’t right for every hire. If you need someone within days, you’re hiring in bulk, or the salary is under $60K, we’re not the right fit. A recruiter paid for speed may suit that job better.
We work best on one critical, permanent hire with a salary between $60K and $300K, where the wrong person would set the team back.
Want to see what a flat fee would cover for your role? Talk through a role with us, or book a Scoping Call if you’d rather pick a time.
